Chicagoans have a very serious love affair with food and restaurants. To be a fine dining restaurant in Chicago, you have to be more than great to make it more than a couple years. We also are suckers for trendy “it” restaurants every now and then, but they usually don’t last much longer than the moment. But when a fine dining establishment is truly great, it can last a lifetime. Celebrating its fifth year in Chicago, Bucktown’s Takashi (1952 North Damen Avenue) has the makings to be a mainstay in the Chicago culinary world.

Takashi is named after its founder, Takashi Yagihashi, a world renowned, James Beard winning chef. He gained popularity on the PBS show Great Chefs but has went on to appear on Iron Chef America and Top Chefs Master. Best known for his French-Asian fusion, Yagihashi is seriously one of Chicago’s culinary heroes.

The menu at Takashi features both hot and cold plates. It has a chef tasting menu (Omakase), a Japanese Kaiseki Dinner offering, and a dessert menu. To give you a idea of his genius and the type of food you can find just read the following description: “crackly skinned roasted young pheasant with chestnut risotto, chanterelles, Jerusalem artichokes, and pearl onions.” It just sounds upscale and decadent. You get the same effect when listening to the dessert menu and seeing something as simple as cinnamon sautéed apples, which has “a maple-semifreddo-topped pecan shortbread, candied bacon, and a marvelous apple cider sorbet hidden beneath dehydrated apples.” It sounds absolutely wonderful.

If you have read enough and are ready to make your reservations today, you can call 773-772-6170. Or you can click here to make reservations through Open Table.